Withdean Sports Complex

Positive experience: Not the cleanest gym. Best not to look too closely. For some reason Cleanliness / Hygiene don't seem to be a priority. I E Behind the treadmills lots of fluff. Sauna constantly out of order ( no health benefits there). Absolutely no communication from "management: Changing ,showers etc Spotless...but the gym uuggh

Negative experience: After my son begging me to spend £28 a month on this gym I finally crack and go with direct debit. So I take him down there hoping to talk to someone to sign forms etc. after having to queue for 5 ish minutes I finally talk to someone who was very condescending and rude. Ignoring this I ask my questions in which I receive half hearted answers which didn’t help what so ever. After a few weeks of attending school starts I leave him attend on his own he comes and tells me that he had to book but weren’t able to as he was listening to a ringing phone for 5 minutes. It just isn’t good enough for how much is it

Negative experience: Was told on the phone that I didn't need to book that I should just come down only to arrive and refused entry as it was full we payed travel fair to get there from lewis to get there I had 2 very un happy kids and won't be coming back

Negative experience: Not impressed,turned up today,after phoning this morning,and was told that I didn't have to book for soft play.turned away because it was full!!!I came by bus from Burgess hill,won't be back

Positive experience: Visited the soft play with 8 yr old grandaughter who required my presence throughout. Fun and exhausting

Negative experience: Gym is closed very early on the weekends, machines are faulty or out of service very often, air conditioning is subpar. Not worth the extortionate pricing.

Positive experience: Great complex with excellent facilities but the receptionist was unnecessarily rude and obnoxious. Maybe she was having a bad day but when I pointed out that the parking machine possibly wasn’t working and taking a long time to load, I got a snappy “well, are you here for more than three hours?” and “It’s fine, you were being impatient”. I was treated as an irritation and the response was totally unprofessional.

Negative experience: A member of staff on the front desk (blonde young woman) mockingly said "bye" to me as I left and another (man with glasses) laughed loudly and said "that's so rude" Totally unprofessional. They must get very bored standing there doing nothing so resort to making fun of paying customers.

Positive experience: Spacious gym with good equipment , friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: Nice hidden place. Parking is a pain.

Fantastic experience: We visit this complex for squash and I like it !

Negative experience: As someone who visits Brighton several times a year, I usually choose this gym because of its convenient location. In the past, my experiences have generally been positive. Unfortunately, my most recent visit was very disappointing. A front-of-house staff member wrongly accused me of not paying—an issue I quickly resolved by showing proof on my bank app. However, what was most upsetting was the rude, dismissive, and unprofessional manner in which I was spoken to. I would strongly urge management to provide proper customer service training so staff can handle interactions with members in a more respectful and professional way.

Negative experience: Visited for the first time thinking it was a really good price only to find out ,you have to pay an extra £5 for the rist band to play the tag games. And then apparently you need to add credits to this also ! Website is awful and doesn't say about the extra cost . The bands are really tight and hurt even my small 8 year old . I thought booking only line would mean the right amount of people would be allowed in, but so many people were in that there was no where to sit or move about easily . The heat in there is ridiculous! Part of the reason we left before our slot time ,was because of the heat and how sick it made the kids feel . Being on two sections looks cool but isn't ok for parents to be able to watch the children .the toddle area is sooo small and doesn't have anything for crawling children to play with or even a ball pool . A staff member said to my son if he got to 20.000 points she would give him free tickets (never sent tickets !) Really disappointed as it did look really fun from the post I saw .

Fantastic experience: Has everything sports related. Staff are nice and welcoming and no issues whatsoever so far.

Positive experience: Well equipped gym, air con on the gym floor and good sized changing rooms. Lots of parking. Cardio equipment is sometimes full and showers take a while to get warm.

Fantastic experience: Free parking for 3 hours and different kind of games to go with.

Fantastic experience: We always find a space and buses are frequent

Positive experience: Wheelchair access to the athletics track is through a fire door and down a ramp to the end, or though a maze in the sports complex

Fantastic experience: Nice, clean gym which wasn't too busy during lunch time. No queuing for the machines I wanted.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with good equipment

Negative experience: Machines aren’t good staff are rude, use to be a great gym now it’s isn’t

Fantastic experience: Great gym and facilities, has all the equipment you need

Fantastic experience: Nice place. Good tennis

Negative experience: Was not impressed with the staff, lot of girls standing around on a Saturday. Having to wait for them to finish their private conversations before being served is not ideal.

Fantastic experience: I took my Granddaughter here as she loves the soft play, the staff here are always friendly and helpful so I will always come back to a welcoming atmosphere.

Negative experience: Dreadful customer service. Inflexible payment system which doesn't accept my bank therefore I'm expected to pay over the odds. Absolutely no concern shown by any staff member I have spoken to about it.

Negative experience: Bad customer service from front of desk receptionist Kat, poor maintenance of men’s sauna (not been working for months), expensive to use facilities (day pass is over £10) and also overcrowded during peak times (no space or weights available). The place may offer a lot of facilities but don’t be fooled, I would avoid at all costs. No pictures needed - feel free to experience this for yourself and comment.

Negative experience: The gym is bad value for money, hard to get use of equipment even at non peak times, not the cleanest and important equipment missing (no Smith machine, 5 running machine, 3 bikes, no space for free weights)

Negative experience: Not the worst gym but certainly the dirtiest. Been a member of this gym for a couple years and eventually the state of filth and neglect just builds up and youre forced to leave a review. The gym itself is just unkept. Staff seem to have an arrogance that theyre PTs and not cleaners. Weights are always left scattered everywhere and there are ZERO dedicated cleaning stations. The best they can do is a couple sprays they like to leave near the bins and some blue roll that often runs out. It doesnt take a keen eye to notice the dust and muck that accumulates in every crevice. Just a bad indication that the cleaning is not up to standard. Its bred a culture of uncleanliness; in my few years here i can count on one hand how many people bother to wipe down their sweaty benches let alone “dry” benches. Ring worm from this gym feels inevitable. Mirror broken in the gym; replace? NAH just rip it off the wall and add to the general unkept and broken down aesthetic. The mens toilets and changing rooms are revolting. Soap dispensers broken and two urinals that leak into a bucket, most sinks dont work. This has been the case for my entire time here. The mens sauna is constantly damaged by users. The sauna seating was recently destroyed; took months to fix; when it was fixed (by reducing the number of seats no less) it lasted a couple weeks before being broke again. Any rules are simply ignored by the gym clientele. I have also had the pleasure of finding chewing gum, used tobacco snus packets and all sorts of disgusting items both in the showers and sauna. Dirty shoes and footprints around the showers are pretty much a regular occurrence. Some of these criticisms are not the fault of the gym itself but the users. But my main concern is that the lax rules and refusal to actually encourage “good behaviour” creates a lawless gym culture where basic sanity and hygiene are just disregarded. Ive mentioned this to the gym itself via their feedback cards but nothing really changes. I doubt they will acknowledge any of this as looking at their responses to google reviews seems to only really take on feedback that is positive. Edit: i added a photo of what is a DUSTY urinal. I have no idea how long it takes for dust to accumulate but the fact theyre not wiping down and cleaning a urinal regularly is disgusting Photos of chewing gum in the urinal that has been there for a number of days (not regularly cleaned) and buckets to collect urinal waste (been there for years now, just fix the leak?)

Positive experience: Went to the Level Up soft play but I wasn't really impressed. The main soft play is on a few levels opposite a small area with 4-5 tables, but once the kids go in you can't really see them. The ball pit is made of giant transparent soft balls but better suited to the older kids as little ones get stuck between the balls (so may get a bit scared). From the seating area you can see the Toddler area inside, it has a small trampoline but the whole area is quite small so older toddlers tend to get bored quickly (my 3 year old lasted 10 minutes) and want to go in the other section which isn't really suitable for 2-4 year olds. Also the cafe' and snacks bar is OUTSIDE the soft play room (in the main reception) so you can't just get a coffee/snack/water while the kids play. You have to get the kids out of the soft play, walk out of the room to the main reception, get what you need and then go back to the soft play room. It didn't quite work for us.

Negative experience: Non transparent pricing of membership means they will swindle you for as much as they can. Whenever I've visited the reception staff have always been fairly clueless and the toilets have been revolting. Money that should have been spent repairing leaks and revamping the changing rooms last cleaned and decorated in 1980 has gone instead on a kids softplay (and I say this as someone with kids). They have a monopoly on the area I suppose, as there is little else available.

Positive experience: Great gym. Not the cleanest but I love the range of classes. My main gripe is that it is literally impossible to contact them on the phone or via email - you're always left on hold for literally hours. I've waited over an hour to get through the them sometimes. Ludicrous. Emails are worse - you'll be lucky if you get any response within 3 weeks.

Positive experience: Only used the carpark for park and ride into Brighton. Good carpark with plenty of space and the first 3 hours for free! Cheap after that!

Positive experience: Better equipped than other gyms from network. No repairs of broken machines, bathroom taps etc. WiFi is very poor so do not count on it. It should be perfect for all members!!!!! 3G signal is very low, so prepare and download your music.

Positive experience: Fine... rubbish techo beat music... very banal!!

Fantastic experience: Reasonably priced. Nice atmosphere and very helpful staff. (Dog friendly)

Negative experience: Avoid. Incredibly overcrowded in the gym and almost impossible to get on any equipment.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic facility. Not for the fainthearted like me, but the staff were so helpful and supportive of the youngsters. Great climbing options for all levels by the look of some of the pro's

Negative experience: I was referred by my GP to Withdean Brighton twice… once in June 2024 and few days back again. But the team doesn’t bother about referrals at all. When I enquired in person, they had a very casual approach. The girl at the front desk had questions and kept clarifying with her manager (comfortably sat in his cabin) The manager didn’t have a courtesy to come out and talk to me directly…maybe it was too cold for him…. Really disappointed with the membership customer service team.Seems they have hit their this years target…

Negative experience: DON’T PARK HERE! They literally will charge without hesitating even if you simply forgot to buy but were willing to pay at the end. I’ve got 2 parking tickets just because their stupid system wasn’t designed to remind before you pay or just simply charge at the entrance

Fantastic experience: Food & drink was reasonably priced, recommend this place

Negative experience: Do not go to this gym. Front desk staff are so rude, I went on a day pass having never been and they smirked when I didn’t know where the gym was in the complex and didn’t tell me where the changing rooms were. I’m not sure how I would know having never been there. Couldn’t see any locker rooms along the way and there weren’t any in the gym so I asked a member of staff who took me on a 10 minute walk down to the toilets instead. I spent half an hour trying to find the lockers and still no sign. Went to go ask reception and no one was there and the place was swarmed with kids everywhere. Ended up just walking out having not even used the gym. Definitely will not be signing up to that

Negative experience: so dirty shower room, sauna is out of order mostly. not worth to pay the fee which is more than private gym cost.

Negative experience: I’m not a big fan of athletic stadiums being used as football grounds, but sometimes clubs have no choice. It’s fine, but I’m in no rush to come back.

Negative experience: Terrible gym bad equipment terrible booking system plays bad music aswell

Positive experience: Free parking, gym has been extended and refurbished very well, lots of good equipment and exercise studios for many types of classes, also indoor and outdoor tennis, running track and squash courts. The staff are friendly professional and helpful, altogether a great place to exercise and keep fit.

Fantastic experience: Amazing memories over the past fifteen years. Really good to be running around the track and the gym facilities, tennis courts and gym facilities are all really good.

Negative experience: I’m beginning to hate this gym, some employees are nice and the gym equipment is decent but I have had enough and am seriously thinking about switching gyms at this point! these rules are just annoying. The open hours for 'junior gym' are restricting and completely defeat the point of a membership that costs almost the same as an adult one but gives such limited use. It’s ridiculous how strict they are on what the system is 'telling them' even though half the people do not scan in or out to the gym. One time they even told me that that ‘junior gym’ was overbooked and wouldn’t let me in when 5 members of junior gym had already walked out and my friend who didn’t book had just walked in a minute before me. Overall Withdean is okay but had ridiculous rules and times that you’re allowed in if under 16.

Negative experience: I have had enough! As a 15 year old user of this gym, I'm just trying to better myself, but these unjust rules are bringing down my mental health. The open hours for 'junior gym' are extremely restricting and completely defeat the point of a membership that costs almost the same as an adult one but gives such limited use. It is utterly ridiculous how strict they are on what the system is 'telling them' even though half the people do not scan in or out to the complex. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. Horrific place that really brings down the reputation of freedom leisure.

Negative experience: Gym is busy and small and lots of the machines aren't great.

Negative experience: Careful, they entice you with a trial month on a monthly rolling basis, but don't make it clear that you can't cancel for the first 3 months. It's the classic gym scam making it impossible to cancel a membership.

Negative experience: Ignored by the receptionist who picked the skin of his hands...has really put me off... Classes take no account of different skill and fitness levels.

Positive experience: It's such a great centre. Shame the new gym equipment hasn't really impressed, but you can do so many activities, there is something for everyone, it's pretty decent.

Fantastic experience: Soft play is wonderful, great the kids get 90 mins. Wish there was an adult version.

Fantastic experience: Grate gym, loads to do helpful staff.

Negative experience: Just went there with 4 and 3 years old paid £13.00 but once inside it was so hot and smells really bad went back to reception and they said there is AC there installed and they can’t do anything about it. Not going to go there again waste of time and money

Positive experience: It's alright, not ideal when the weather is anything but sunny and the roads are quite tricky around it but otherwise it's fine

Positive experience: Car park for park and ride is very confusing. £3 before 8, £10 over night but 1st 3 hours free. 10 minutes of button pressing to pay for 4 hours, cost £13 from 6.30pm

Fantastic experience: Nice and refreshing to sit outside in the lighter summer evenings. Very nice. Those wet autumn leaves make the roads and paths particularly slippy - especially dangerous in the longer darker evenings.

Positive experience: Location of , I believe Brighton's only Park & Ride, Unusually the location is to North of Brighton in Wthdean Sport Complex not many spaces unfortunately Parking is free for 3 hours as we were intending to stay longer we paid £3.20 Pay by Phone is the provider for this car park location code 809571 I found loading App IMO the best option Setting up is not without its problems As usual, you will need your car registration, a suitable debit or credit card with security code pin

Positive experience: I was playing in there a long time ago and I fort potatos going to tat and because I hate everything haters going to hate HAHAHAHA 5️⃣

Fantastic experience: Im a member of freedom and have a multi pass. Withdean is by far my favourite venue due to its sheer size and extensive equipment with the new upgraded machines its a great gym with lots to offer people. They also have a cafe and activity centre for the children to enjoy. They offer classes and have saunas in the changing areas, tennis courts, track and field events and a climbing wall.

Negative experience: Got a parking ticket here as we visited the complex and had lunch. Softplay was nice, but the food was awful.

Positive experience: Gutted I didn't realise you had to pay when you when you park & ride now I have been coming hear for years didn't even think about it I'm now waiting for the fine.

Fantastic experience: Taran was amazing. She greeted and served us with a beautiful smile and amazing energy. Will come back again!

Positive experience: Helpful staff. Here to use climbing walls. Good facilities and cafe on site.

Fantastic experience: Went to level up soft play. Kids loved it. Limited seating when busy so get there early. Cafe with good range of drinks and snacks in main reception.

Positive experience: I love the track and climbing facility so lovely there but the staff behind main reception are always so rude with their unwelcoming presence

Positive experience: Nice, modern gym, shame they close it earlier on the weekends.

Negative experience: tried calling them multiple times kept saying i’m in a queue once i get to 1st in queue they don’t pick up after over 20 minutes of waiting. I’m a member so this service is appalling

Negative experience: Some staff are ok, but most are rude and seem to hate working at the place. This is particularly the case of Reception staff.

Fantastic experience: Parked here for the park and ride to get bus into Brighton. Plenty of parking room, frequent buses into town.

Positive experience: Used the car park only for the park and ride. Car park is open and clean. Easy to find and paking was simple

Positive experience: Good carvery as part of a two course meal offer. The apple pie and custard was very good. The venue does look very tired though needs some tlc

Positive experience: Great carvery and affordable. Good selection of meats and alternative meals too. Spacious and great for all types of meeting.

Positive experience: Fab team as always on a whole, but this morning, waited for a long time to be checked in whilst an assistant chatted to one of the gym members and her toddler who was sitting on the counter. The other assistant was on the phone. A long queue grew whilst we all patiently waited. The assistant oblivious ( I am assuming) to those waiting for in the queue's disapproval. Not good. This is not the first time this​ has happened btw.

Fantastic experience: Been loads of time always been good had a family meal boxing day service very good staff very pleasant would definitely come again x

Positive experience: Great place excellent facilities and everything of course. Gym, climbing wall, etc. Been coming here for years and they everything's always kept in good condition. Always an easy and  experience with helpful staff, lots of space for parking, even a pub nearby- what more could you ask for?! All that said, a problem has arisen lately. Actually it's been escalating slowly for quite some time and I wonder if any other members have noticed? I always chose this place over other gyms because I liked his company but lately I feel like Dean is slowing down a bit and I sometimes feel I'd ather just do a workout on my own. He just can't keep up anymore and of course he's such a considerate guy he's never asked me to slow down for his sake. But I just feel like I'm showing off sometimes and that maybe he's kind of jealous, frustrated, and even upset about getting older or something. Especially since his injury. Has anyone ever tried saying anything to him or dropping any hints that you'd rather be left alone? How did he take it? Maybe it's all in my head but I feel like things have gotten so awkward that I might have to swap gyms. I wonder if they'd ever consider changing things up- getting rid of him all together... would they be better off as the the WithoutDean Sports Complex?

Positive experience: When for a swim sunday afternoon Had swimming Divided swimming lane, mixed showers and changing rooms. Very clean and tidy with hair dryers.

Fantastic experience: Great leisure centre although we already have one in woking which is now closing due to a massive debt incurred by useless conservative councillors. It’s a scandal

Negative experience: Seriously lacking in customer care. So bad I cancelled my membership.

Fantastic experience: Went climbing and the kids had a blast. Staff were helpful and friendly

Fantastic experience: Very friendly staff nice place they have a carvery, the veg is some times over cooked. But mostly ok

Negative experience: The facility is tired and cardio equipment is broken more often than not. 3 out of the 6 treadmills have been broken for weeks if not months, same for the cross trainers half are out of order, a rowing machine has been removed as it's broken. Weight equipment when broken takes weeks to be repaired. Even a urinal is out of order and the entry system also broken. I've been a member for over a year and I have seen it deteriorate in this time. I emailed the manager about the concerns but I can only assume his email is broken also...

Fantastic experience: Tall walls, a rock box place, nice staff and a huge gym upstairs. What more could you want?

Fantastic experience: Originally constructed in 1930. It was the home track of Olympic athlete Steve Ovett. Between 1999 and 2011 it was the home ground of football team Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. was used for the Davis Cup match between Great Britain and New Zealand in the spring of 1939 Later developments included a zoo and miniature railway. In 1980 Steve Ovett opened the all-weather running track which was resurfaced in 1997. Its a great venue for some club track training nights, particularly with Arena 80 AC, some tough uncompromising interval workouts, guaranteed to improve your fitness and event times. Evening sessions in the winter also pleasant as the stadium and track is well lit. ‍♂️

Positive experience: Would have 5 stars. But don't seem to answer the phone when you ring

Positive experience: It's a big ground with chairs I had sports day there it was fun

Fantastic experience: Really friendly staff lovely centre with a good range of all varieties of climbing. Good training area too

Negative experience: Had a valid guess pass receptionist was very unhelpful and rude. Even though I use the same pass a week ago and had no problems. Bad experience. never go back

Positive experience: Enjoy going with friendly staff. Technogym steppers now in a poor state of repair with several broken and hardly any have a TV signal anymore. House maintenance needs improvement. e.g. gents toilet has had panels missing and a broken sink tap for months. Entry system relies on reception staff, the technology of the entry machines and swipe to enter gym or changing rooms appears to be broken and it seems until recently it was being abused. Stretching area on gym floor still too small especially when ‘Synergy’ taking place when there is pretty much nowhere to go.

Positive experience: I have emailed the management team first, but they never replied so I guess I will publicly share my opinion. Turning off music in the gym between 1pm-2pm because one person wants to train in silence just doesn't make sense. The uncomfortable and heavily demotivating silence does much more damage to the 99% of people that are training, compared to the bizzare 1% that want to train in silence. I suggest the management team do what the majority of gym users want in any gym in the world, which is always play music.

Positive experience: Easy access for Park and Ride into Brighton, although quite a lot of stops along the way. Easy from here back onto the main roads though, so far less hassle than driving into Brighton and then trying to find somewhere to park.

Positive experience: Carvery and a half decent menu, well-stocked bar with friendly staff

Negative experience: not nice staff. nothing on the website about not being able to go in without membership.

Fantastic experience: The best Stonehouse carvery for miles around. The staff from the saltdean tavern and the Peacehaven need to come to the sportsman to see how it should be done.

Positive experience: Free parking and good facilities to use whilst waiting for the park & ride bus.

Negative experience: Half the treadmills have been broken for months along with some of the cross trainers. There's also only two exercise bikes since the refit. This is a poor amount of CV equipment for a gym this size which seems more focussed on weights nowadays.

Negative experience: So much broken equipment that’s not fixed for weeks and weeks - the cv section currently has six machines broken - shocking

Negative experience: Freedom Leisure website needs to be updated to be clear there are no options for guest passes and the “Discover Withdean” passes they sent out with no expiry date are no longer valid; sloppy marketing